Marx and Smith would – for once – agree on the danger of monopolies in sports like golf Tim Worstall From today until Saturday, the Centurion Club near St Albans in Hertfordshire will be the rather unlikely host of an attempted revolution in the game of golf. LIV Golf is a Saudi-backed attempt to disrupt the existing PGA and European Tours by tempting players with huge prize money -$255m in its first season alone – [...]
Generous trade offer to Australia will allow Global Britain to demand the same elsewhere The free-traders in Boris Johnson’s Cabinet appear to have won the day: the Prime Minister has reportedly sided with Trade Secretary Liz Truss, his Brexit advisor Lord Frost and other Cabinet liberals to support a zero-tariff, zero-quota trade deal with Australia. The protectionists who wanted a watered-down deal – led by Environment Secretary George Eustice [...]
Boris Johnson’s visit to India will put his trade principles to the test In the much anticipated Integrated Foreign Policy & Defence Review published last week, the government set out one of its key principles as “promoting) effective and transparent governance, robust democratic institutions and the rule of law”. Fine words; a clear echo – whether conscious or not – of a fundamental tenet of liberal thought. It was [...]
Joe Biden must not let anti-capitalist climate zealots capture his presidency November 9, 2020 As the world prepares for the coming Biden administration, a fundamental question looms both for Americans and for the wider world: which Joe Biden will govern as President? He has long defined himself as a moderate, a centrist, a bipartisan consensus-finder — but recently his Democratic Party has moved significantly to the left, and in [...]
With Britain on track to invoke Article 50 in March, is the EU unprepared for the implications of Brexit? February 13, 2017 Tim Worstall, senior fellow of the Adam Smith Institute, and author of Chasing Rainbows: Economic Myths, Environmental Facts, says Yes. There are minor implications of Brexit that Europe hasn’t really got to grips with yet. Given that the UK has long been a substantial net contributor, who is going to fill the hole in their [...]
As Standard Life’s investment boss calls for pay curbs, are big investors right to target chief executive pay? February 7, 2017 Alex Edmans, professor of finance at London Business School and a member of the steering group of The Purposeful Company, says Yes. Shareholders bear both the direct cost of executive pay and its indirect effects on other stakeholders, since stakeholder value ultimately affects shareholder value. Thus it is they, not one-size-fits-all regulation or other stakeholders, [...]
Are hardcore Remainers deluding themselves that the government’s Brexit strategy is in crisis? January 5, 2017 Tim Worstall, senior fellow at the Adam Smith Institute, and author of Chasing Rainbows: Economic Myths, Environmental Facts, says Yes. To claim that anyone’s Brexit strategy is in crisis is to misunderstand what a strategy is. It is the goal that you have decided to reach. Britain’s strategy in World War II was the unconditional [...]
As MPs debate the idea, should Britain create its own Sovereign Wealth Fund? December 14, 2016 John Penrose, Conservative MP for Weston Super Mare, says Yes. Brexit gives us a once in a generation opportunity to recast the kind of country we want to be. We’ve got an unbalanced, rock-and-roll economy that’s too dependent on consumer spending and doesn’t invest enough for the future. That makes us less economically productive than [...]
As the Supreme Court’s Article 50 hearing enters its second day, does it matter if the government loses? December 6, 2016 Olly Kendall, managing director and founder of Westminster Public Affairs, says Yes. The Supreme Court’s decision will turn Parliament into a powerful backseat driver, forcing Theresa May to reset the destination on the Brexit GPS. The government is likely to lose its legal battle and when it does – particularly in the absence of a [...]
With Italians set to vote no in a key political reform referendum, should we now expect “Italeave”? November 24, 2016 Tim Worstall, senior fellow at the Adam Smith Institute, and author of Chasing Rainbows: Economic Myths, Environmental Facts, says Yes. Failure by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to win the Italian constitutional referendum should indeed lead to Italy’s exit from the EU. Renzi has said that he will resign if he loses, which will almost certainly [...]
